Haoran Wang

Due to its prominent geographic positioning on historic trade and migration routes, Cyprus has had a long and turbulent history of contestation. Created in 1964 to prevent further inter-communal violence, the buffer zone divides the island nation, and the National capital Nicosia, into northern and southern sections. The city sits as a testimony to the waves of conflict and lives experiences of its inhabitants; architecture serves as a witness to the multi-layered historical narratives and geopolitical influences within the region; Museums play a crucial role in negotiating the meaning of our past, help define current identities, and influence the way we approach the future. While most of the museums in Cyprus structure their narratives heavily focusing on ethnic-national identity, narratives from both sides are not usually found in any one museum.

Focusing on how both individual and collective memory reverberate within contexts of loss, contestation, division and conflicting claims of statehood and national identity, this project aims to explore how the architecture of the museum might serve as a testing ground for multi-perspectivity and narrative plurality.

This project wishes to explore the complex architectural ideas beyond mere function and challenge the role of the museum as mechanisms of authority to reshape national identity and memory. Rejecting the model of one-sided historical narratives, this museum has the task of telling the story of an island from different perspectives, presenting multiple and even conflicting narratives to the visitors, therefore evoking a sense of questioning of the truth.